Choose the path

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today are preparing our consciousness for the contemplation of our response to the choice between trust in a life in which God offers to be both transcendent and immanent and alternately living according to our own compass which tends to draw us toward self satisfaction and isolation from God and others. This decision to be with Jesus as He transcends death in His journey to fulfill the will of the Father to be the servant of all who are responding to the invitation to live the New Jerusalem where He reigns as the promised Messiah, Son of David, is represented in a deep way at Eastertide. The prophet Ezekiel addresses the people of Judah and Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. The second and disastrous exile to Babylon has not yet occurred and the prophet presents the deep desire of God to be in a Covenant relationship with His people so that they might trust in Him for their future rather than choosing to court the aid of the pagan power in Egypt to prevent their domination by the Chaldeans in Babylon. The Gospel of John presents another political choice which impacts the way in which the mission of Jesus to restore the people unfolds. The religious authorities, who are already threatened by One, who claims to be Son of the Father, who transcends the natural order of things and places compassion, reconciliation, healing, peace and love as being the essence of God while questioning the true righteousness of those who scrupulously adhere to Pharisaic legal interpretations, now understand that they may be able to use the death of Jesus as a political initiative to move the people against the Roman occupation. The battle against choosing our social, political and economic strategies over trust in God is ongoing.